Door Number Two
by MC-Aitlyn
Summary: Flaming lips and wild hearts lead to a truly unexpected evening for Miss Annie Edison. Abed/Annie, Jeff/Annie
1. Chapter 1

_Author's Note: I've noticed there are way more Jeff/Annie shippers than Abed/Annie shippers writing stories and that makes me feel left out so I finally listened to the little voice in my head and decided to write a story of my very own. It's one the ways I can imagine Abed and Annie finding themselves in a relationship that's not so platonic. I hope it seems reasonable and not too OOC. I really enjoy the show and studying the characters. That, and I've read a few Dan Harmon interviews over the years so I hope I have an okay grasp on them by now._

_This takes place after episode 309 but before episode 310 (after foosball, before glee Christmas). A word of warning to the kids: I am a grown woman. I write with a 28 year old's frame of mind. Sorry if there are adult themes here.  
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_Much love to any potential readers and please give me a shout out if you like my story. I'll keep writing it if people are interested enough. Oh, another warning—it is heavy on the Jeff and Annie in the beginning. Sorry about that. Well, not so sorry seeing as how Joel McHale is H-O-T. But honestly, in this story, it's just a means to an end. So don't worry._

Chapter 1: A Healthy Dose of Naïveté

x

"So what are you up to the rest of the day?" I looked up from the stacks of index cards I was binding and then compartmentalizing into the hidden pockets of my backpack to meet Jeff Winger's sky-blue eyes.

"Not much. I was thinking of going to IKEA to pick up a new desk because my old one is falling apart. But seeing as how those two—" my eyes darted to Abed and Troy, who were in _Inspector Spacetime_ costume and already out the study room door, "—are busy, I guess I'm gonna have to wait until this weekend."

I brushed some loose strands of hair to the side of my face and blew a tired breath. It had been a long day. The study group's first major biology exam was coming up fast and I was exhausted from all the prep work I had been doing in order to compensate for that F we'd received at the start of the semester. And now that it was almost four o'clock and I had dotted my I's and crossed my T's, all I wanted was to lie down and relax. But being Annie, a part of me really wanted to go and get that desk, too. I had marked it down as one my errands to be completed by the end of the week. That, and I had found it increasingly difficult to study out in the living room. There seemed to be a steady stream of _Call of Duty_ that was hard to filter out, even with the help of my headphones and some ambient sound scapes.

"Why don't you ask one of the girls?"

"Shirley's taking her kid to the dentist. Britta's taking her cat to the optometrist. And I doubt either of them, even between the two of us, is strong enough to lug a seventy pound box of plywood up three floors."

"Box?" Jeff's forehead furrowed inquisitively.

"Oh, I forgot. You're not well versed in the ways of cheap furniture. IKEA is a place where broke college students, like me, go to get a futon for eighty bucks. Only catch is you've got to put it together yourself."

"Sounds horrible."

"It's actually quite stylish." I slung my backpack over my shoulders and gave Jeff a wan smile, uncaring of his skepticism.

"Did you ask Pierce? I mean, you are his favorite."

"Uggh, that's elder abuse, Jeff. Do you want Piece to throw out his back? The last thing we want to do is give him an excuse to start loading up on the painkillers again."

"Well, if you want…" Jeff trailed, his eyes lingering on the scoop of my neckline while I pretended not to notice, "we could go get it together."

"Seriously?" I stood up a bit straighter and my voice brightened. Was this the same Jeff Winger who had feigned the swine flu two years too late to get out of helping me move? "You'd be willing to do that?"

"Sure, why not?" He shrugged and rocked back on his heels, as if to suggest it was no big deal. "I've got nothing else going on right now."

"Let's go!" I was two steps ahead of him before he could retract the offer. Maybe if I was really nice, he might offer to help me assemble the damn thing!

x

"Best. Day. Ever!" I pranced on the tips of toes as I raced up the last few steps of stairs. "I really, really, appreciate this, Jeff. You have no idea."

I opened the door to my, Troy and Abed's apartment to let Jeff in and stepped aside.

"Ah, it was nothing," he huffed, setting the box down gingerly just inside the apartment. I couldn't help but notice that despite the fact that his biceps were practically bulging out of his sweater, Jeff seemed rather red in the face after that last flight of stairs. Biting my lip to keep from chuckling, I flipped the light switch.

"What can I get you?" I said eagerly, not wanting him to leave just yet. "Are you thirsty? Come on, you've got to be thirsty."

"I am, actually. What have you got?"

"All of the basics." We walked over to the kitchen and I opened the door to the fridge. "Orange juice. Mineral water. Special drink. Beer-"

"Beer?" He craned overhead to see proof of purchase. "You have beer? You're not even twenty-one yet."

I frowned at the note of disapproval in his voice, playful though it might be. Since when had he cared? I wasn't a baby, after all. And I absolutely hated it when Jeff talked down to me.

"Yeah, but Troy and Abed are."

"Someday somebody's gonna have to write a sitcom about the worst Jehovah's Witness and Muslim ever."

"Oh, they don't drink that often. It's mainly for me." I met Jeff's eyes in challenge as if to dare him to object. Holding our gazes steady for a beat, Jeff was the first to break.

"A beer would be great," he said breezily, swiveling around and walking out of the kitchen to take a good look at the apartment.

_Perfect_, I thought to myself. _Now he'll want to stay a while_. But I was no longer aiming for him to stay simply to put together my desk for me. In spite of how he'd just annoyed me, Jeff had actually been surprisingly sweet during our little trip to IKEA. He'd cracked jokes, asked lots of questions about my days of penny-pinching and slum-living, and had seemed genuinely interested in my responses. I forgot how nice he could be when he wanted to, and like so many other hapless gals, I was a sucker for that Winger charm. Jeff was a good friend. And we hadn't hung out much all by ourselves lately. And should this innocent hang out session lead to anything more, well, then that would be the icing on the cake…

"Here ya go!" I chirped, coming up behind him and handing him the beer bottle by its neck. I had another in my own hand. It was extra cold against the heel of my palm but I was already feeling sort of hot and flustered just having him here so it balanced me out.

"How is it living with those guys, anyway?" Jeff muttered, peering down at me with that sort of smoldering intensity he always seemed to affect, regardless of his demeanor.

"It's awesome," I told him, and I could say it without a moment's hesitation or even a trace of irony. "I mean I've never lived with anyone other than my parents before so maybe that's why it seems so great but it's been working out well. We all have our designated tasks. Story time: me. Adjusting the water pressure: Troy. Documenting each and every designated task: Abed. Oh, and we take turns cleaning. And cooking. Troy put aluminum foil in the microwave two weeks ago but aside from that it's been smooth sailing."

"You guys never fight over anything?"

"Not yet. And I don't see it happening unless it's something big. I mean Troy and Abed are not just my best friends, they're like the brothers I never had. And they treat me like a princess. Literally." I giggled. "The other night I was presented with an actual scepter and tiara before we played a few rounds of Mario Kart."

"Ah, Mario Kart." Jeff's voice sounded far off. "One of my fondest memories of living with Abed."

"See? You already know how great it is."

"Yeah, but that was just Abed. I've never had to deal with the two of them at the same time. They don't ever, uh, try your patience a little?" Jeff nudged me ever so slightly with his elbow. Even though he was grinning furtively and doing it in jest, the touch alone made me suck in my breath nervously.

"Sometimes," I sputtered, working hard to keep my voice relaxed. "But they're really good about realizing when they're doing it. We're all still figuring out how not to annoy each other."

Jeff must've noticed that bit of awkwardness on my part because he stepped back in order to take a healthy swig of his Newcastle.

"At least they're not trying to have you on _Troy and Abed In the Morning_ yet."

"Actually I was on last Thursday," I said, sipping my own beer as I tried to gauge his body language.

"What did they interview you about?"

"Adderral. It was a public health episode."

He smirked. "Are you gonna be back?"

"Depends. Troy says he's preparing a list of 'girly-type' questions to ask me next time. I think he's getting ideas from _Cosmo_ because I snuck a peak at the list and it read 'Ryan Gosling' plus 'bikini wax'. Also, they want me to bring in a bunny for show and tell."

"Are you going to have to pay for the little guy out of pocket?"

"Actually I was thinking of getting one myself," I confessed. "I sort of like the idea of it. Abed says it'll be like Chandler and Joey and their pet duck. Also, I was never allowed any pets growing up. Other than the semi-annual goldfish."

"Yeah, I always wanted a dog. But my hardass father said no and for some reason, my mom seemed to think his word was law even after he left, so…"

Jeff's voice grew quiet and he looked down at his feet. Observing him just then, I was reminded of the fact that even though he was fifteen years older than me, there were so many times that he looked like a lost little boy.

"I get that," I said, taking a tentative step forward. "After Dad left Mom she seemed to take on a lot of his hang-ups. She even stopped eating dairy and he was the one who was lactose-intolerant. Weird, huh?"

"Weird, all right." Jeff lowered his beer and stared at me intently for a few long seconds. The room seemed to darken and I licked my lips anxiously.

"So how often _do_ you drink nowadays, Annie?" He leaned over and clinked his bottle against mine so gently that it was hardly audible. But the change in his voice was.

My mouth went dry from the way he was looking at me. "Oh, I don't know. Now and then."

"Still a lightweight?"

"I can hold my own." Jeff nodded almost imperceptibly, and in the moment, I swear I could see him come to a decision.

"So do you want me to put that box in your room, or what?"

"Yes," I said softly, feeling the air between us crackle with electricity. "Bedroom's fine."

We dropped all pretense. The butt of my beer bottle jutted against the mid of Jeff's back and his clacked my shoulder as I reached up and he reached down. People might think that a kiss between two people with such a disparity in height could prove to be mega-awkward but, let me tell you, with Jeff's warm hand cupping me beneath my miniskirt, well, I didn't even care.

_Finally_!

After two and a half years of footsie and stolen glances and heaps of denial and this-n-that and back-n-forth Jeff Winger and Annie Edison were finally getting somewhere.

Jeff's strong arms were wrapped tightly around my small frame as our teeth clashed together in nothing short of fervor. It wasn't an elegant kiss, to be sure, but that didn't make it any less sexy. His five o'clock shadow was scratching my chin and I was all the way up on the tiptoes of my lavender ballet flats but no matter! Just a few clumsy steps backwards and we'd be in my bedroom, at long last. And it would be hot. And fierce. And everything I'd wanted it to be.

It would be _perfect_.

My mind was already racing with a heady mixture of arousal and expectation.

I'd be Jeff's girlfriend from now on. After this, how could I not be? And he'd stop sleeping around and worrying about all the pointless material things in his life because he'd realize that _this_ is what was meant to happen. This was the reason he'd lost his job and had to go to Greendale. The reason why he'd landed in our oddball study group in the first place. And _this_ was the reason why I'd been so unpopular in high school. Why I'd suffered so much and had become addicted to pills. Why I had lost my scholarship to the University of Colorado and wound up going to Greendale myself. The parallels were obvious. And it was all worth it. It would all be worth it if we could finally be together.

I would finally be the hot chick. With the cool older boyfriend. And Jeff would finally be in love and feel fulfilled. I could see the pieces of so many late-night fantasies coming together now.

_Me, me, me. Us, us, us. Jeff, Jeff, Jeff!_

I gasped into Jeff's open mouth as my free fingers dug against the scruff of his neck. God, he smelled good. And his hair was so soft and his skin so warm against my fingertips. I moaned. Groaning himself, Jeff wheeled us around, intending to back me up to my bedroom as I had predicted.

And then… he shoved me away.

I stumbled, a bit of beer spilling onto my cardigan as I tried to regain my footing. I looked down at my wet clothes and up at Jeff, furious and more than a little hurt when I saw that his head was turned.

I froze and my heart leapt into my throat as I heard the front door squawk open. Jeff looked panicked for all but one second before he put on a mask that just plain astonished me. He seemed cool as a cucumber. And I'm sure I was doing us all kinds of disservice because what I felt in that moment was equal parts wonder and horror.

"Hey, Jeff. Hey, Annie. What's up?" Abed closed the door behind him and stared at the two of us with wide unassuming eyes.

"Hey, Abed," I said. A little too quickly to be perceived as casual. "What are you doing back so early? Weren't you and Troy supposed to be filming 'til eight?"

"No, that's tomorrow. Troy has a late football practice tonight so we were just doing dress rehearsal."

Abed looked from me to Jeff, and then Jeff to me. And I knew, just _knew_, that even though he had learned enough tact not to say anything, Abed had already figured out exactly what had been going on before he came in.

_He probably predicted it, the damn witch!_

"I was just helping Annie out with her new desk." Jeff said evenly. Offering an explanation that Abed hadn't any need of.

"I can see that," Abed said, glancing down at the box and then up at us, his face as neutral as Switzerland. Maybe ten seconds passed with nobody saying anything, but for whatever reason, it felt like an eternity. "Yeah, well, I'm gonna go take a shower right now, kay?"

I swallowed hard. I had been living with the boys long enough to know that Abed usually showered in the mornings. He was playing oblivious and giving us a clear out and if I wasn't so worried about Jeff's reaction to the fact I would've hugged Abed then and there.

_That's my boy_, I thought affectionately, retracting the witch comment.

"Okay. We'll be right out here." I shot Abed a grateful smile and he nodded solemnly, making his passive way to the bathroom.

The door closed behind him and then Jeff and I were left all alone in a room of stark silence.


	2. Chapter 2

_Author's Note: I wanted to let everyone know I don't hate Jeff. I just prefer Annie with Abed and have philosophical reasons for doing so. Hope this chapter helps elaborate to that effect. I never anticipated having this chapter up so quickly but watching the Giants win the Superbowl this afternoon really jazzed me. I went to the gym for an hour and still can't sleep. Let me know if you like the story and I'll try and update within the week. And thanks to those who reviewed anonymously. _

Chapter 2: How To Eat Your Words and Then Some

x

Neither of us dared to say anything until we heard the water running. Fortunately, the pipes in the apartment were as loud as the walls were thin so I sighed in relief when they started rattling. Meeting Jeff's eye shyly, I opened my mouth to say something cute and conciliatory but he interrupted me before I so much as uttered a syllable.

"I'm gonna go."

I was so surprised by this that I didn't manage to voice any protest until Jeff had already swept past me and set his beer down on the nearest surface. "What!" I yelped, hating myself for sounding like a pouty middle-schooler. "You're leaving?"

"Yeah," Jeff said, stilling in his tracks although he was already halfway to the door. "I have some things to do and it's getting late."

"It's barely dark out!" In a flash I was right in front of him, arms wide and blocking the exit. "And you said that you didn't have anything to do today."

"Annie," he sighed, and with that sigh I knew he was going to be a little less polite and a little more dismissive, "I need to go, okay? Abed's home and… things are getting kinda real here."

"Aha!" I jumped on his little Freudian slip before he had the gall to use Freud to get out of it. "That's it, isn't it? It was getting real for once. And why don't you ask yourself, Mr. Winger, just how much _realer _it would have gotten if Abed hadn't come home early?"

"Cute," Jeff deadpanned, affixing me with an exasperated gaze. "But the fact of the matter is Abed is here now and you know what, he did us a favor."

A chill came over me. "What do you mean?"

"I mean he just saved us from making a big mistake, Annie."

Jeff let the comment sink in for a few seconds, and every one of them stung. I hated that he could see me just then. I hated that he could see my eyes, all big and vulnerable. I hated that he can see my pain. Because it was fresh, and it was deep.

"How can you say that?" I choked out. "How can you say that again? Every time anything real happens between us you do this. You backtrack. You make excuses. But then the rest of the while you're flirting with me! And you're being nice. And—and leading me on!"

Jeff's eyes flashed. "I'm nice to you because you're my friend, Annie. I care about you. And I'm not 'leading you on'. I never made any promises about what's going on between us. I told you from the beginning you're too young for me. And we both agreed that we had to stop doing this, remember?"

"That didn't stop you from kissing me! Three time's the charm, Jeff!"

"All right you got me." Jeff's voice had grown louder now, and I could tell that I had pissed him off. "I'm a guy. I'm weak. I'm horny. You're a gorgeous twenty year old coed and so what, I slipped! It wasn't intentional, Annie."

Although somewhat tempered by his accidental compliment, I wasn't about to let Jeff get off so easily. "How much more intentional could it be than your tongue down my throat? You didn't just slip and make out with me this time! This isn't Greendale, Jeff. This is my home. And it, no, _we_ were going somewhere. And something definitely would've happened if Abed hadn't—"

"Yeah, 'something' would've happened," Jeff said, his fingers miming air quotes. "Something would've happened and then what?"

He said it so pointedly and with such severity that I was stunned silent.

"What were you expecting, Annie? That we'd what, start dating? That things would get serious? We're friends. You're one of my best friends and things are fine the way they are. Why would we want to ruin that?"

"You and Britta are friends." It was a weak defense, I knew. But he was irritating me by making some headway and I had to reply somehow.

"Britta and I are grown ups. We know when sex is just sex. You're a kid, Annie! I'd only hurt you."

The second it was out of his mouth I could see that he regretted it. His lips parted and he gritted his teeth. But it was too late to take it back. Too late for me to pretend I hadn't heard it. So that's what Jeff thought of me then? A kid? All that talk about me becoming a smart and competent young woman that he respected. All of those times he'd rushed to my defense when the rest of the group was failing to take me seriously. All of those instances in which I'd imagined that I'd impressed him with my wit, my banter, my knowledge of world politics and pop culture…

And he saw me as a kid.

Not only did he not want to pursue a relationship with me. He didn't even take me seriously enough to have relationship with!

"Annie, I—"

"Just leave." I could feel tears steaming up the backs of my eyeballs and I wanted him out of there while I could still control myself.

"But Annie, I didn't mean that—"

"Really, Jeff. It's fine." My voice had a dull lifeless quality to it, but I didn't bother to try to mask it with fake civility. "It's late, like you said. And I want you to go."

He made a motion as if to move but his feet stayed planted on the ground. I looked away, unwilling to observe his pity and growing angrier by the second for his smothering me with it. "Jeff," I said warningly, and it wasn't a plea. It was a demand.

"I'm going," he said, his voice steeped in regret.

And then he was gone.

x

After Jeff left I just stood there for several minutes, listening to sound of the Abed's shower and feeling hot bitter tears track down my face. Eventually I mustered to will to move and I walked to the kitchen as if on autopilot. I hovered over the trashcan to put away the remains of my beer but then thought better of it, and drank the damn thing down in one guzzle. Setting the bottle in the recycle bin, I spotted a small green apple next to Troy's cookies on the counter and took a bite of it. I wasn't hungry. I never had much of an appetite when I was sad. But I needed something to push down the lump in my throat. With any luck it might join the rocks in my stomach.

I took my apple and my sad self back to my room and plopped on the bed, my limbs taut with tension. I turned on my ipod and tried to scan for music that would make me less agitated, but nothing worked. I picked up a book and put it back down when I realized I had been reading the same page for five minutes straight. I half considered venturing out of the room and watching some TV but chances were nothing would hold my interest. I didn't know what to do with myself. I wanted to get my mind off of Jeff and everything that had just happened but I didn't know where to begin.

_How dare he?_ I seethed inwardly. _How dare he call me a 'kid' when he's the one who is still hi-fiving Troy over panty-raids and undie-runs! And hell, I'm just as mature, if not more mature than Miss Meat-Is-Murder but I Heart-Leather-Jackets Britta Bot, too! Why does he discount that? I thought Jeff respected me. I thought he saw me as an equal. And why wouldn't he want to date me anyways? What's wrong with me? I'm nice. I'm smart. And he already admitted that he thinks I'm 'gorgeous'. What's not to like?_

I rolled onto my back and scanned the contents of my bedroom attentively. The candy pink and pastel color scheme. The frilly flowers and friendly butterflies. The sheer soft girlishness of it all. Never had I loathed myself so much as I did right then.

_Kid. Kid. KID._

And it wasn't just that Jeff had patronized me. It wasn't just that he had wounded my pride. The worst of it was that he'd had a point. If Jeff was planning to have sex with me tonight and then also intending to try and pretend like it didn't mean anything, like we were some sort of fuck buddies, then he _would've_ hurt me. I wasn't built that way. I couldn't just sleep with someone and have it not mean anything. But I had thought that my relationship with Jeff had meant something. I had thought that he did like me enough to eventually want to be with me. Properly.

A gentle rap at the door stirred me from my malaise.

"Annie, are you alone?"

I half sat up, unsure of whether I wanted Abed's input right now. "Yeah, I am."

"I heard Fiona Apple. Are you okay?"

I smiled in spite of myself. It was amazing how well he'd gotten to know me and my habits over the course of a month. "I've been better."

"Can I come in?"

"Yes."

I was sure now. Abed really was better than one of the girls in a time of need. He didn't judge. He didn't overreact. He was simply pensive and sweet and there for you. He might not understand all the emotional intricacies of why someone was upset but he was remarkably perceptive. Moreover, I couldn't imagine calling Britta about my ordeal and admitting all that had happened. She'd be torn between being angry at Jeff and suppressing her resentment towards me, and I didn't want to put her in such an awkward position. God knows she was already awkward enough. And Shirley, well, Shirley would probably want to lecture me but be too nice to do so, so she'd just hold it over my head for the rest of the year, if not longer.

That, and she'd probably key Jeff's car…

Abed came in and I was surprised to see a mug of tea in his left hand. Clearly he'd anticipated a need I didn't know I'd had.

"You knew Jeff left," I said quietly, taking the mug and sipping at the hot chamomile gingerly.

"I figured."

"Because you're a student of human character?"

"That, and I heard raised voices. Didn't seem like anything romantic was going on out there."

I set the mug down on the nightstand and put my head in my hands. "I'm so embarrassed, Abed."

"Don't be. I didn't see anything. I just, you know, sensed it."

"I figured. You're really good at that, you know."

"Sorry I interrupted you guys."

"Don't be. It wasn't your fault. And according to Jeff, you did us a favor."

Abed sat down alongside me and the pressure made the bed squeak ever-so-slightly. The weight of his presence seemed comforting for some reason. Taking a deep breath, I raised my head, meeting his dark and inquisitive gaze. "He called me a 'kid', Abed. He kissed me, and then he called me a kid. He said he didn't want to hurt me."

Abed nodded dutifully. "That makes sense. Jeff feels very paternal towards you. He's indicated that on numerous occasions over the past few years. But then he's also attracted to you, too. It sets off a major guilt trip and really taps into his daddy issues. Makes him feel like a pervert. His father left his mother for a younger woman, you know?"

I sat up straight, suddenly feeling a hell of a lot less embarrassed because of this new information. "Do you think he's a pervert?"

"No," Abed said matter-of-factly, his tone unchanging. "He's just a man. More lustful than most because years of easy conquests have eaten away at his will power. And you're a beautiful young woman. He couldn't _not_ be attracted to you. But he's mad at himself for acting on it. And I am, too, frankly."

I blushed. I wasn't sure if it was because Abed had called me beautiful or if it was because he said he was angry at Jeff on my behalf. "You are?"

Abed blinked, as if surprised by my surprise. "Of course I am. I understand why he kissed you, but there was no point in doing it if he wasn't going to follow through. He was messing with you. Even by accident, that's not cool."

"No, it's not," I agreed. "But I can't help but feel like I asked for it. I mean, I wanted him to kiss me. I'm sure I gave him all the signals. I've been wanting something like this to happen all semester. And I thought that now, seeing as how I'm not a teenager anymore, well… tonight it finally would."

"You're disappointed?"

"No. I was earlier, but now I'm a little relieved."

I looked down to at my hands in my lap, wondering what would have precisely happened if Abed hasn't come home. Jeff and I would be in bed right about now, that's for certain. And surely within no time, we'd finish, he'd take one sobering look at my unicorn figurines and then try to make his escape. Or worse, he'd pay me lip service and stay a while only to slip out after I'd fallen asleep. And then he'd avoid me the next day.

_Child_, I thought. I may have been a bit fantastical in my aspirations for our relationship's future, but what woman wasn't guilty of a little self indulgence in this respect? Who didn't imagine story book endings when it came handsome princes, err… hipsters?

_Britta's not like that,_ the little voice mocked. _Britta's older. And more experienced. She might not know how to pronounce "bagel", but she can have sex without falling to melodramatic lovesick pieces like you do. You're pathetic, Annie. Trying to seduce Jeff and make him your boyfriend because you think it's some sort of karmic payback because your life sucked in high school? Believing that you two are destined to be together and that you can save him? Save him from what? Banana Republic? And what makes you so special that Jeff would want to give up his bachelor lifestyle to be with you, anyways? Aren't you just as flawed and insecure as everybody else? _

"Don't beat yourself up, Annie," Abed said.

I looked up in shock. How the hell had he followed my train of thought when I hadn't even said anything?

"You didn't do anything wrong. Lots of women fall for Jeff, in case you hadn't noticed. The Casanova archetype always get treated as the hero on television, like Barney Stinson or Charlie Harper. But nobody ever asks about the women in their wake. People get hurt all the time, but that doesn't make for good comedy."

Abed hand reached for mine. Our fingers laced together and the warmth of his touch made me realize how cold I was. How cold I had been until he'd come into the room. I beamed at him. Abed was such a sweetheart. The wonders he could work within a few short minutes. Back in the days of Count Spaghetti when I was living alone, an incident such as this one would've plagued me all night and I might've even cried myself to sleep. But now with Abed here as my support system, I was feeling much better about Jeff and my bruised ego.

"I'm not that hurt," I told him, and as soon as I said it I realized it was true. "I'm just glad you're here."

Abed's thumb swiped against my palm reassuringly and a funny tingle shot up my arm. "So you don't think I'm a kid?" I asked, watching his reaction intently.

"No more of a kid than I am." Abed flashed me a particularly boyish smile and I gathered that he was trying to be facetious. Man, living with Troy and me had really humanized him as of late.

"Have you ever been in love, Abed?" I blurted out. I don't know what made me ask it, but I was suddenly very curious.

"No." He said it flatly, with no indication as to whether he considered that a good or a bad thing. "Do you love Jeff?"

"No," I sighed. "But I think I could. Really easily if he let me. But then I also thought that I was in love with Vaughn. We used to say it to each other all the time. And I honestly thought I meant it when I did say it. But I must not have been really in love because I got over his leaving pretty quickly. Like, lightning quickly, thanks to Jeff."

Abed frowned and his mouth quirked in that peculiar way it tended to do. I could sense that he was about to say something important and for some reason I grew worried. Maybe I shouldn't have revealed that I hadn't loved Vaughn when I said I had. Maybe Abed took me for a hypocrite or some sort of hussy. My forehead pinched in anticipation and for a moment I feared he was going to draw his hand away. But he didn't.

Instead he said, "I don't think you should worry about stuff like that. I mean, I don't. I love my parents. I love Troy and you. I love all of you guys. That's enough for me. If I tried to push myself to experience every little emotional thing that happens to other people naturally I'd be a nervous wreck. You have to learn to let things happen, Annie. And live in the present. Our past doesn't define us. It's what we do now that counts."

My heart fluttered beneath my breast. And for the second time that evening I felt my eyes water at a rapid rate. I didn't know if it was because Abed had just told me that he loved me. I didn't know if it was because I realized then just how fiercely I loved him. But I was certain it was partially because he'd known again, without my ever bringing it up, that I was feeling extremely neurotic tonight. Like the ugly duckling I used to be. Little Annie Adderral. But Abed said that that wasn't the real me. That I wasn't defined by my past. And I believed him.

I squeezed his fingers in appreciation and then moved in for the hug. Abed's arms folded over the breadth of my back and I seemed to fit into them just perfectly. I laid my head on his shoulder and breathed in a sigh of deep contentment. His t-shirt was soft and he smelled of spring water soap and freshly laundered fabric. And it was all so natural. So relaxing. So… easy.

After a few requisite seconds I drew back reluctantly. I couldn't think of anything to say to him that was half as beautiful as what he'd just said to me. But I tried to express my appreciation nonetheless.

"Thanks, Abed. I'm so grateful to be your roommate. Living with friends is so much better than living alone."

"I agree." He smiled. Longer this time. "I was worried we'd get sick of each other when Troy talked me into it, but we're all much closer now, aren't we?"

"Yeah, we are," I said warmly.

If anyone had told me two and a half years ago that someone like Abed Nadir would wind up being one of my closest friends, well, I wouldn't have believed it. Before the study group all of my friends had been girls, particularly girls of the catty, preppy, academic variety. And all of those girls had dropped me like a hot potato after my nervous breakdown. They'd even booted me off _Facebook_. But Abed, strange and eccentric though he was, had somehow wound his way into the very fabric of my heart. And he was dearer and more loyal to me than anyone else I knew.

"Do you want something to eat?" he asked, cocking his head. "I could order a pizza. Or Troy and I could take you out for dinner and drinks. It could be a night on the town and a 'forget-about-him-he's-not-worth-it' night. Like on _Sex and The City_."

"No." I laughed lightly and shook my head. My stomach no longer held rocks in it, but I was feeling strangely full. "Can we just sit here a while? This is really nice."

"Cool. Cool cool cool."

His eyes shone brightly and in spite of the dim lighting in my bedroom, I could just make out my reflection in them. I looked happy. My gaze lingered and I found myself focused on his mouth. And suddenly I was remembering the time we kissed. How passionate it had been. How organic it had felt in spite of the façade that it was. How I'd had to train myself to forget about it each and every time someone brought up paintball, because if I let myself remember, I might start craving the experience all over again…

A crazy impulse took over me. And before I could question it, I leaned in and kissed him.


	3. Chapter 3

_Author's Note: And now read on as said author works herself into a logistical lather with all the good stuff. I love hookups. They are the best kinds of fanfic, aren't they? Party's not over yet so hopefully I'll have enough motivation to finish chapter four in a few days. Reviews make the motor run faster. Cue the smiley emoticon. _

_To those of you who reviewed anonymously and to whom I couldn't respond, here's the ticker tape: / asv – Hey, if you review twice I'll write twice as fast. Haha! / Ori – Yup. I actually adore Jeff. I think he's funny as hell and I would do his homework to hang out with him. / tt – Sorry about the cliffhanger. I know they're painful, but they make for excellent chapter breaks. & actually I was referencing the "giant cookie" episode from season 1 and alluding to Troy wanting to live with Abed, not Abed with Annie. I always kind of wondered how Troy wore Abed down since they didn't show us that on _Community_. / JA fan – Couldn't be more pleased about winning over a Jeff and Annie fan with my story. It's the highest compliment to be paid, I think. I know what you mean about _Community_ being a ship-fest. Initially I didn't like the idea of Britta and Troy (b/c I'm Britta's age and b/c of the age difference) but I've been rewatching Season 3 during hiatus and they've officially seduced me. Speaking of which…_

Chapter 3: In a Pinch, a Little Persuasion

x

My hand curled around the back of Abed's neck as I drew him towards me, bringing our two faces together. He froze the instant I kissed him, making no motion to reciprocate, but giving no sign that he found my actions distasteful either. I knew I'd shocked him, and I wanted to tell him that I'd also shocked myself. I didn't know why I was doing this. All I knew is that it felt right and Dear God, why was he not kissing me back?

Some moments passed and we were still connected. My eyes were squeezed tight, blocking out the cold hard reality. Another second came and went and just as I was contemplating walking away with my tail between my legs Abed's mouth opened slightly, beckoning mine.

And then we were kissing together. And it wasn't all on me anymore, because Abed's arm had left the divide and wrapped around my waist, tugging me closer. My heart was throwing itself against my ribcage, sending vibrations down my spine and into my trembling nerve endings. I was so excited. So very excited and not entirely sure why. But something special was happening. Something magical. I could feel it.

Abed's left hand settled itself in the flat between my shoulder blades, and his long fingers sprawled against it, keeping me steady. I cupped his face, kissing him tenderly and trying to express everything that I felt for him in this simple and still remarkably chaste embrace. Abed's lips were silky soft and his face was freshly shaven. It was beyond pleasant. It was nothing like kissing Jeff, and yet everything like kissing Jeff at the same time.

With Jeff I felt hunger. Desire. Heat. With Abed I felt all of those things but there was an added layer of hypersensitivity, and an almost compulsive need to do this right. I was too timid to just jump his bones even though I half-wanted too, but more importantly I didn't want to scare him off. Not when I wasn't even sure what either of us was really getting out of the exchange or why it was happening in the first place. My motivations were seemingly more than hormonal, but what were those at his end? And what if they weren't even based on physical attraction to begin with?

Did Abed like me? Did he even want this? Or was he merely being polite and going with the flow?

The longer I thought about it, the more concerned I became. Who knew how Abed's mind worked anyway? Jeff often called Abed a computer, and if that was true then this was nothing more than a series of input and output to him. What if I was kissing Abed and he was kissing me back simply to mirror me? What if I wasn't even his type? What was Abed's type? I tried to think back to that sexy librarian he and Troy had been going on about last year. Wasn't she tall? And a redhead?

_Oh God, this really isn't in my wheelhouse_, I thought. _I never make the first move. At least not without the guy expressing explicit interest first. I'm usually the submissive one. And he doesn't even seem interested in taking this any further. How am I supposed to get what I want without risking making a fool of myself? Please, Abed, just please, do something to—_

"Mmmph!" I gasped as I was lowered down swiftly. My head eased onto the comforter and my startled eyes opened in amazement. Still entwined, Abed followed fast on top of me. He was using his elbows for leverage so that his body wasn't completely eclipsing mine, but his tongue slipped between my surprised lips and then we were really kissing. Deeper and sweeter than I'd ever kissed anyone before. He tasted like cherry lip balm and peppermint dental floss. The best items at the drugstore.

_Oh, God_. _Oh, God, Oh, God, Oh, God._

His fingers were moving fast. They trailed down my middle and took hold of the curves of my hips gently but possessively. On instinct, I parted my legs, giving Abed just enough room to settle between them. He felt good there. Lithe and svelte. I loved the shape of his body and how it draped over my own. Abed's hand slid under the back of my head to cradle it and all I could hear was the quiet rasp of our breathing and the soft smack of his delicious lips on mine. Honestly, he was almost too good at this.

I wanted him.

I wanted him so badly. I don't think I'd ever desired anyone or anything as badly as I did Abed just then. My hands, which had been searching for purpose, gripped his torso and then skirted beneath the hem of his t-shirt, bunching it at its base. I needed to feel his smooth brown skin. The heat of his flesh. I needed to dig my fingernails into the small of his back and raise my hips and—

Abed pulled up and away so quickly I nearly got whiplash. I bounced once, twice, and then I scrambled onto my knees, mouth agape as Abed reached for my nightstand to keep himself from tottering as he stood.

"Wha-what-" I began, extremely annoyed.

"Annie, we can't do this," he said sharply.

He might as well have dumped a bucket of ice water straight over my head. I had never heard Abed speak so forcefully before. Especially to me.

He must've realized the insult I'd inferred because he quickly revised his statement in a cooler but still very much strained tone. "Sorry. _I _can't do this."

I licked my lips. They were still buzzing from the scrape of his teeth. "Why not?"

"I just can't."

"But I-I don't understand." My throat felt like it was shrinking and my voice became small as I struggled to make sense of this. "Are you… not attracted to me?"

_Because you sure were thirty seconds ago._

Abed raised an eyebrow, looking perplexed by the question. "No. It's not that."

"Well, then why, Abed? If you want me, too, then… what's the problem?"

_Please don't let it be me, _I prayed._ I don't think I could handle another rejection tonight._

"Where to begin, Annie?" Abed said dejectedly, fixating on the wall behind me as if aiming to bore holes through it. "You're sad. You're vulnerable. You've been drinking. I'm your friend. Your roommate. Your confidante. I came in here to make you feel better and now I'm making myself feel better. You're confusing me for Jeff and I'm taking advantage of you. And it's all wrong, Annie. Wrong, wrong, wrong."

He listed the reasons quickly on his fingers and then proceeded to pace like a madman, stalking across the room. Back, forth, Back, forth. Wavering and muttering to himself in a seemingly hackneyed homage to some bad Nicholas Cage film.

I stayed where I was, knees bent and mind blown. I didn't know what to do. For one hysterical half-second I even considered consulting Britta, the world's worst psych major. It was the most upset I'd ever seen Abed. At least during last year's Christmas breakdown he'd managed to keep all of the emotional turmoil he was suffering under lock and key. Such is the nature of repression, after all. And with that whole _Cougartown_ moving to midseason debacle he'd likewise checked out, turning catatonic for the latter half of the afternoon. None of us in the study group had ever actually seen Abed freak out before. But here he was bursting at the seams. Twitching. Fretting. His normally passive countenance wracked with misguided and ill-begotten guilt. He was in terrible pain. And I'd put him there.

So why was I so angry at him?

"I'm not a little girl, Abed!" I said all of a sudden. And I said it as loudly as he had barked at me earlier. "Or have you forgotten already?"

The angst left his features as quickly as it had engulfed them and Abed whirled around to stare at me stupidly, completely nonplussed.

"And I'm not drunk. I had one beer, hell, less since Jeff spilled some of it on me after he threw me across the room when you came home." My voice was growing angrier with each and every word. "And I'm not mistaking you for him. How dare you assume something like that about me? I'm not some boy crazy idiot, looking for affection or validation or whatever with whomever! I know exactly what I'm doing and who I'm doing it with. I'm not some _kid_!"

As the rage came pouring out of me, the common sense came flooding in. On some level I realized I ought to apologize. That this wasn't fair at all. Abed was only being a decent person. A real gentleman. Those were things I liked and admired about him, but the way I was feeling right now, well, I was too stubborn to admit it. And I could feel the fire of righteous fury spurring me on because, when push came to shove, all I knew to be true is that you couldn't just kiss a girl like that and then take it back. Not again. Not this time.

And so I held my ground.

Abed studied me for what must've been a full minute, but I didn't so much as blink. I wasn't going to cave on something as important as this. If I gave an inch he'd take me for a mile and I wasn't willing to go back to the way things were before tonight. Something had shifted between us. I was seeing Abed in an entirely new light and for the first time in my adult life, I knew I was on the cusp of something healthy and game-changing. It wouldn't be right for either of us to just ignore it. Even if Abed asked me to, I wasn't sure I could do it.

_Don't say you didn't feel it, too. I know you felt it. You had to have felt it!_

Abed sighed finally, and before I could get my hopes up any higher, he held his hands out in a hapless fashion. "I wasn't saying that you're like that, Annie. You're stronger than that. You know I don't think that way about you."

My fists began to unclench in spite of myself.

"And I don't think you're a kid, either," he added quietly.

"So you've said," I groused, still somewhat miffed.

"I'm sorry I lost it. You, uh, you caught me off guard earlier."

I relaxed altogether, feeling my shoulders slump and the hairs on the back of my neck stop prickling. This was good. This was progress. Abed was being honest with me. He had calmed down. We were going to talk it out. And then we were going to go back to what we were doing before his conscience had so rudely interrupted us.

"I thought you were used to girls making the first move," I joked, trying to make enough light out of the situation that he'd stop looking so uncomfortable.

"Yeah, but this is different."

"How is it different?"

"I just…" His Adam's apple bobbed noticeably as he tried to summon the right words. "I just don't want to hurt you."

"That's exactly what Jeff said," I reminded him.

Abed frowned. "But I'm not Jeff."

"That's exactly what I'm saying."

He nodded slowly, as though he was piecing it together now, and I took the gesture as a sign of encouragement. Sliding off the bed, I drew myself to my full height in front of him, looking up in expectance. "Well then?" I asked.

Abed sucked the air in through his teeth and shook his head. "It's not enough, Annie."

"What would make it enough?"

"I don't know. A magic eight ball? A time machine? What if we do this and it all goes wrong? What if we wake up tomorrow and you regret it? Haven't you seen _When Harry Met Sally_?"

The earnestness in his eyes just then moved me and I took his hands into my own. "This isn't a movie, Abed."

"I know that."

"And I seem to recall things worked out okay for Harry and Sally in the end."

He blinked, unfazed. "That's because it's a movie."

I sighed, playing with his fingers which were lax and disinterested. "Do you think you'd regret it?"

Abed took his time in replying. "I'll regret it if you do."

"Same here."

He nodded again, but didn't respond. I didn't know if I was any closer to seducing him. I wasn't the sort of girl confident enough to have a bag of tricks at the ready anyhow. But I was a debate champion. And Abed usually responded very easily to logic…

_Fuck it! If I have to improvise, I'll improvise._

"Please, Abed," I breathed, going for the jugular as I batted my eyelashes and worried my bottom lip. It was the sort of thing that worked on anything male, and sure enough, Abed's eyes were immediately drawn to my mouth, which I'm sure was full and pink from our brief yet very heated makeout session. He was tempted, all right, so I'd already done due diligence in appealing to his lesser angels. But how to breach the gates…?

"I could still hurt you, you know," he murmured, letting his hands drop as I tried to place them on my waist.

"I doubt that," I soothed.

"It's true, Annie," he said, looking away. "I've hurt people before. Not intentionally. But I don't understand them and they don't understand me. It frustrates them and then they leave. I hurt my parents. I broke their marriage. I hurt my one and only girlfriend, because I didn't care when I was supposed to care. And when I tried to care it was fake and she could see through me."

"But Abed," I reached for the side of his face to try to regain some eye contact, "don't you see? If you hadn't cared about her you wouldn't have tried in the first place."

"You weren't there though," he protested weakly. "You don't know me, Annie."

"Well then let me know you!" I pleaded. "I'm not asking for anything more than tonight, Abed. Weren't you the one that said we that need to live in the present? Let go of the past?"

He made a sheepish face. "I say a lot of things."

"Yeah, I know. I listen."

He didn't say anything, still focusing on the damned wall.

"You've never hurt me before," I said, growing increasingly desperate as I failed to provoke a reaction. "And you do understand me, Abed. Sometimes better than I understand myself. We've been friends for years now. I'm not some stranger you're taking a stab at. We hang out all the time. We get along great. We even live together."

He shrugged, still far away.

"Abed," I said impatiently, "we've kissed before, remember?"

That seemed to wake him up. "That was different," Abed said. "We were LARPing, and I was Han Solo."

I snorted. "Okay, first off, Abed, I don't even know what 'LARPing' means. And secondly, do you honestly think that when I replay that day in my mind I'm picturing Harrison Ford?"

Abed opened his mouth to reply and I held up a free finger. "Say that you imagined me as Carrie Fisher and I will kill you."

He couldn't help but smile. "No."

I stroked his softening face. "Good then."

Abed's eyes fluttered for a moment, as if lulled by my touch. "Do you… think about that day often?"

He reeked of curiosity and it made me grin. "That's classified information."

Without warning Abed turned his face into my hand and kissed it. My breathing grew labored as he met me with a heavy-lidded and single-minded gaze. It was like nothing I'd ever seen on him before, and it aroused me to no end.

We stood like that for some time. The ghost of his touch in the heart of my palm. What was it supposed to mean anyways? Was it a promise or an apology?

"I hate change you know," Abed said at long last, his voice considerably lower.

"Some changes are for the better," I said. Standing on my tiptoes, I pressed my lips against the skin of his throat and he made a noise of unmistakable longing. "I am _not _a little girl, Abed."

"No, you're not," he agreed, lowering his face and resting his forehand against mine. His sweet breath was intermingling with mine and I wanted him to take me so badly I would've begged him.

"I really like you, you know," I said in a breathy voice that sounded nothing like my own and would've mortified me under normal circumstances. "I really want you. I wouldn't be doing any of this if I didn't."

Abed's fingers brushed past my breast and reached for the start of my cardigan, toying with the first of the plastic discs that bound it. "This feels kind of surreal," he said softly.

I nodded excitedly. "But in a good way?"

"Yes." He unhooked the top button, keeping his eyes fixed on mine to observe my reaction. When I gave no sign of protest he unhooked another. "You're getting dangerous, Annie," he told me.

"Is it the doe eyes?"

"Something like that."

And in that moment I knew I'd won.


	4. Chapter 4

_Author's Note: Happy V-Day, bitches! (That's my Dean Pelton.) Done! I'm posting now to get you guys in the mood later in the event you have plans. It's long enough to be two chapters but that would've been ill advised as readers would've suffered needlessly and it would've interrupted the flow. _**_Word to the wise: Don't read this around anyone else. Seriously_**_. And once again, kiddies go away. "M" is not for you. _

_Horrifying sidenote: My boyfriend snuck up on me when I was smack in the middle of writing this chapter and it was the Most. Embarrassing. Day. Of. My. Life. You don't know humiliation until you've had to explain fanfiction to the man who takes you out to dinner. But whatever. It was worth the sacrifice, right? Plus I told him if he kept teasing me I'd move out and keep my goodies all to myself. _

_I want to thank everyone who has reviewed again, even though I'm gonna get to the anonym-i and have already PM'd those w/ usernames. I LOVE reading people's comments. I've never written fanfic before, & I didn't even know what it was until rather recently (thank you Alison Brie for mentioning it at _Comic Con_), but this has been a gratifying experience. _

_Shout-outs 4 shout-outs: asv: You're a sweetheart. You may hate me, but I love you. / Nameless reviewer #1: Amen. I feel that way about fanfic in general. I think what happens is a lot of people rush the pairing and don't explain the details as to how things might evolve. That's kind of why I wanted to do this, b/c I do find A&A feasible and think they have good chemistry. And thanks to everyone who keeps telling me they think that these guys are in character. I relate much more to Britta personally than I do Annie (& of course I don't relate much to Abed, but I love him just the same) but I tried to channel Annie as I was writing in her voice—imagining what her reactions, thoughts, and actions would be. I'm elated anybody thinks it paid off even a little. /Anonymous: Sorry the site wasn't working. But I'm grateful you came back to review b/c it made me smile. / Nameless reviewer #2: Cool head, baby. It's back. / Gwen: It's an honor to be reviewed by you, the hard sell. / dimelo: Soy Latina tambien. (Me mola su nombre.) You're a dear for reviewing all three chapters in a row._

_Also, a bunch of you commented on the fact that I write quickly. I should let you know it is part of my job. But that's PR, not stories. You also may've guessed that I tend to obsess about things and go through phases. This week it's fanfic, last month it was hip-hop dance classes and the month before that I bought a vegan cookbook and tried out every recipe. I guess I should've known I was gonna Britta this secret writing thing when my bf asked me, "Hey, why have you been skipping dance class this week?"Aggh! Shoot me. Anyways, it'll be nice to get my life back because this dealio has exacerbated my insomnia. But I'm open to writing another story for sure if you'd like. I can't wait for _Community_ to be back on the air, so to have this in the meanwhile has been fun, fun, fun! _

Chapter 4: The Finish Line

VERY IMPORTANT: This chapter contains mature themes. To read it in full, please go to this link:

h-t-t-p : (forward slash forward slash) mc-aitlyn . livejournal . com (forward slash) 1432 . h-t-m-l

Also, see my profile for the link to my livejournal account.


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